Darius Boyd's enigmatic stint with Newcastle reached full-time on Friday night, when the club announced he had been released by mutual consent, freeing up the cash to immediately sign forwards Jack Stockwell, Chris Houston and David Fa'alogo.
Stockwell, a 22-year-old prop unwanted by St George Illawarra, has agreed to a three-year deal, while Houston has re-signed for two more years. Fa'alogo is on the books for another season.
Knights coach Rick Stone said Stockwell, who appeared in 35 top-grade games for the Dragons but only 12 this season, was "big and athletic, he has a good motor and will bolster our forward pack".
He said Stockwell had taken time to make the transition from under-20s to the NRL, partly because of injuries, but added he "obviously has a lot of footy in front of him ... with a lot of potential".
Boyd seems certain to rejoin his long-time mentor Wayne Bennett at Brisbane after his release from Newcastle.
It was unclear how much of a pay-out Boyd received, if any, after the Knights' statement declared: "The details of the release are a confidential matter between management and Boyd."
There was speculation on Friday that the Broncos had signed Boyd to a two-year deal, but any announcement hinged on the 27-year-old fullback reaching a settlement with Newcastle.
Brisbane have already begun clearing the decks to accommodate Boyd and other new recruits, releasing Josh Hoffman (Gold Coast) and Martin Kennedy (Roosters), while it is understood Cronulla are eager to sign Ben Barba.
Boyd had one more year to run on his deal with Newcastle but a contractual option in his favour allowed to him to leave.
That was always the likely scenario after the relationship between player and club soured last season when reports surfaced of a $200,000 shortfall in his salary, widely attributed to a defunct third-party sponsorship deal that Boyd felt he should have been paid.
There was a further falling out when the 17-Test veteran stood himself down to seek psychological counselling, only to head overseas on holidays weeks later without informing the powers-that-be.
When Bennett announced he was leaving Newcastle to re-join the Broncos, it was always expected Boyd would follow.
But a stand-off ensued as his management sought a termination settlement.
Boyd played in 62 games for Newcastle and was their 2013 player of the year. He played in nine Tests and nine Origins during his time at the club.
But his moody personality and reluctance to be interviewed by the media ensured he was never a crowd favourite.
Despite last night's announcement, Houston will miss Newcastle's first day of pre-season training on Monday because of what Stone labelled "a prior engagement"
Suspended forwards Kade Snowden and Jeremy Smith are also expected to miss the first two weeks of training. Their ASADA bans do not expire until November 21.
Stone said the first day of his second stint as head coach would begin with a beep test and strength session to establish what shape players were in after their off-season break.
"Generally it's an assessment couple of weeks, getting the boys back into the swing of things, and gradually we increase the volume and intensity," he said.
"We've got probably seven weeks before Christmas.
"We've got an intro block of a month and then we'll get three weeks of real hard work into them, have a break, and come back early in the new year.
"Then the Nines and things like that seem to roll around pretty quickly once the new year comes around."
Stone said most of the players are wise enough to "keep themselves in pretty good shape" over the off-season and some, such as winger James McManus, had been training hard for two months after missing the tail-end of last season with a foot injury.
Knights skipper Kurt Gidley is traditionally the man to beat in the beep test and Stone said it would be interesting to see if there were any youngsters who could match the tireless 32-year-old.
"There might be a few blokes who challenge him there a bit," Stone said.
"I guess we'll see who jumps out of the blocks on Monday.
"I'm not sure, but I know Kurt is fit and fresh and looking forward to coming back to training."
